


Healing Together

by americanhoney913



Series: Death and the Healer [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ocean's (Movies), Ocean's 8 (2018), Thor (Movies), Thor: Ragnarok (2017) - Fandom
Genre: F/F, Fenris is adorable, Hela is a gay mess, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 15:53:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15585372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/americanhoney913/pseuds/americanhoney913
Summary: The room Hela wakes up in a room that looks like nothing she remembers of Asgardian rooms. Instead of large glittering walls and king-sized beds, this room has a single bed she’s occupying as well as homey wooden walls. It smells like cedar and some kind of sharp scent that she can’t decipher. Like the herbs her mother used to work with. Hela groans as she sits up, pressing a palm to her head. She’s surprised she’s not dead yet, with the way Surtur destroyed both her home and her.Hela pushes up from the bed and wobbles towards the door. She can hear murmurs from beyond the wooden door. She wonders if they’ve come to finish her off. Hela can feel a gash running down her back, cutting into her suit and, when she presses her hand against her back, she finds a cloth bandage where the middle of the cut is. There’s another one when she looks at her arm and yet another wrapped around her thigh.She flicks her wrist and allows a Necrodagger, a shorter version of her twin swords, to slip into her hand. She doesn’t care if she’s wounded. She’ll fight whoever is out there.ORHela doesn't die. She wakes up to find herself being taken care of by a beautiful woman.





	Healing Together

**Author's Note:**

> Eir: 
> 
> Eir is the goddess of healing and the leader of the Valkyries in some mythos.

The room Hela wakes up in a room that looks like nothing she remembers of Asgardian rooms. Instead of large glittering walls and king-sized beds, this room has a single bed she’s occupying as well as homey wooden walls. It smells like cedar and some kind of sharp scent that she can’t decipher. Like the herbs her mother used to work with. Hela groans as she sits up, pressing a palm to her head. She’s surprised she’s not dead yet, with the way Surtur destroyed both her home and her.

Hela pushes up from the bed and wobbles towards the door. She can hear murmurs from beyond the wooden door. She wonders if they’ve come to finish her off. Hela can feel a gash running down her back, cutting into her suit and, when she presses her hand against her back, she finds a cloth bandage where the middle of the cut is. There’s another one when she looks at her arm and yet another wrapped around her thigh.

She flicks her wrist and allows a Necrodagger, a shorter version of her twin swords, to slip into her hand. She doesn’t care if she’s wounded. She’ll fight whoever is out there.

She shoves open the door and emerges into bright sunlight. It hurts, but she squints through the pain to find herself in a haven of green. On her left is a garden, filled with different kinds of vegetables and ground fruits from around the Nine Realms. On her right, covering a hill, are various types of fruit trees and grapevines. 

Whoever lives here definitely has a green thumb. 

She’s about to head in the direction of the hill, get away from this place, when there’s a bark and she’s bowled over. A wet tongue begins to lick at her face and she finds her hands pushing against fur. She opens her eyes and brushes a string of saliva-wet hair to find herself looking up into the green eyes of her wolf.

“Fenris,” Hela shouts as she pushes her off. She chuckles as the wolf whines, tail wagging at a fast speed. “Get off, you brute.” Fenris decides that instead of following orders, she’s going to flop down next to her mistress and rest her huge head on Hela’s lap. It feels like it weighs a ton.

“She’s just excited you’re awake,” a soft, raspy voice says as a shadow covers Hela where she sits on the floor. Shading her eye with one hand, Hela looks up to see the most alluring woman she’s ever seen.

This woman wears a long, flowing dress colored the deepest blue, contrasting beautifully with her pale skin, which looks gold in the sunlight. Her brown eyes shine, sparks of gold within them. She looks like a goddess unlike any Hela has ever met. 

“Um, hello,” she says in almost a whisper, then clears her throat. “Hello.”

Fenris whines, as if she’s upset she’s not being paid attention to. Hela notices her darling wolf looks smaller than usual. No longer standing as tall as an Asgardian spire, Fenris now stands as tall as Hela’s shoulder at her highest point. 

“She’s smaller,” Hela comments, scratching her behind the ear.

“Couldn’t exactly fit a dragon-sized dog into my barn, now could I?” the woman says. Hela likes the way her voice rasps when she speaks. 

“She’s a wolf, not a dog,” Hela mutters.

The unnamed woman puts her hands on her hips. “Well, whatever she is, she was too big for the barn.”

“ _ Was? _ ”

“Just a simple shrinking potion.” She shrugs like it’s no big deal. Hela can’t believe this woman, or whatever she may be, had the gall to shrink her majestic wolf down to the size of a horse.

“Who are you?” Hela asks, pushing herself to her feet with minimal wincing and sliding her Necrodagger into her hand once more. She points it at the woman.

“Eir,” the woman answers simply, as if she isn’t threatened by an Asgardian weapon that could kill her in seconds. “Goddess of Healing.”

Hela takes a step back, eyes wide with shock. She knew of Eir, the warrior goddess of healing. The woman that disappeared when Hela killed off the Valkyries… at her father's orders. They had been getting too strong for his liking, their leader a woman capable of killing and healing a soldier within five minutes of each other. Hela remembers her father's words when she'd be told him she'd become betrothed to a Valkyrie.

“I will not allow my daughter, the heir to the throne of Asgard, to consort with those vagabonds,” he'd said. Then, in the next breath, he'd ordered her to destroy the Valkyries. She could not disobey the orders of the Alfather. So, with tears in her eyes and a thousand apologies on her lips, she'd led Odin's armies into battle one last time, before she'd made him send her away to a life of solitude amongst the fallen and dishonorable soldiers who didn't deserve Valhalla. 

“I thought…” Hela presses a hand to Fenris’ shoulder to keep herself steady. “I thought I killed the Valkyries.”

“You did. You killed them all,” Eir says, softer this time. She steps closer. “But I was here when it happened.” She reaches out and strokes Fenris’ snout. “Eyvindr and I were too late to save them all.”

Hela's shoulders hunch over with grief. She twists her fingers into Fenris’ fur. Her wolf whines as if sensing her inner turmoil. “I didn't want to,” she says in a soft tone, head turned away from the other goddess. “I couldn't say no to the Alfather. Even if I wanted to. Even if I tried.” She sighs. “He forced my hand. Made me kill them. Kill  _ her _ .” Tears fill her eyes and Hela tries not to let them fall, tries to resist the temptation to destroy this place like she did to her homeworld in her rage, her anguish, and her desperation to get back at the man no longer living. “I don’t think I can ever forgive myself.”

Eir shakes her head and reaches out her hand, palm up. Her smile is soft and almost loving, different from what Hela’s used to. It reminds her of the way her Valkyrie used to look at her, before… before her eyes turned glassy from a sword run through the heart, her noble steed collapsing in a heap next to her. “I may not be her but, as the leader of the Valkyries to the very end, I forgive you.”

Hela shakes her head and steps back. “Your words are kind, far kinder than I deserve, but I will not accept them.” She turns away, patting Fenris on the flank. “Thank you for the hospitality, but I’ve overstayed my welcome.”

Hela heads towards the trees, sure that there’s something beyond that hill. Fenris whines, head moving between Hela and Eir. The wolf crouches on her belly and whines even harder. Hela rolls her eyes and turns to kneel down at the creature. She cups Fenris’ head in her hands and shakes slightly. 

“You’ve been such a good companion, but I can’t ask you to follow me back to Hel,” she says. Fenris continue to whine. “I’m sorry, darling. I’m so sorry.”

She stands up and brushes her hands down her ruined uniform. 

Eir takes a step forward. “You're not fully healed yet,” she says. “You don't need to--”

“Please take care of her,” Hela cuts the other goddess off. Eir opens her mouth and Hela holds out her hand to stop the other goddess. “I don't want to hear it, Valkyrie. Please, just let me leave in peace.”

Eir steps forward and places her hand on Fenris’ scruff. She smiles at Hela, a confusing emotion the dark-haired woman can't read, and nods. “You will be back, sooner or later.”

Hela scoffs and shakes her head. “I'm sure you'll be happy to get rid of me.”

Eir shakes her head. “No one in my care leaves before I've cured them. This extends to goddesses who are too stubborn to realize they need help.”

Hela growls but turns before she can respond. She's done with this goddess and her goodness and the green rolling hills. She storms off, passes the vineyards and apple trees, passes the veggie patch and…

Passes the vineyards and apple trees, passes the veggie patch and…

Passes the vineyards and apple trees, passes the veggie patch and…

Hela stops and turns around. Veggie patch, apple trees, vineyards. The scenery hasn't changed.

Hela finds Eir standing exactly where she left her. Fenris yips and wags her tail as she stands up, tongue lolling out of her mouth. “How?” she asks.

“I told you,” Eir answers, voice level and peaceful, “one cannot leave until I've healed them. It is both a blessing and a curse.”

“So just say I'm cured,” Hela demands. “Then I can leave.”

Eir shakes her head. “The valley knows things even I don't.” She sits down on the floor and Fenris huffs, falling over into her side. The goddess laughs and Hela walks to sit next to her, scared and wary of the other woman.

“Why do you call it a curse?” Hela asks.

Eir bites her lip and waves a hand at the distant hills. They don't look like hills anymore, but mountains. Looming in the distance as if they're sentries, keeping watch over those inside the valley. 

“You can't leave either, can you?” Hela asks. 

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I've not been healed yet, I guess.” Eir tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and pushes herself to her feet. “So we're stuck here together until you're healed.”

Hela crosses her arms. “Fine,” she concedes, “but I’ll never like it here. It’s too perky.”

***

Fenris snorts from her place at the foot of the bed, small enough to fit inside the house now. The size of a common Midgardian dog, if Eir is to be believed. 

Hela sits at the wooden dining table, carving a little hole into the side with a sharp hunting knife. The table is covered in similar marks, whorls and dots connecting to form nonsensical patterns in the wood grain.

“Do you really have to do that every time?” Eir asks as she comes over with two steaming bowls of meat stew. “If you keep up, I’m going to make you build me a new table.”

Hela smirks and twirls the knife around her fingers for a moment before stabbing it into the wood. “Darling, I wouldn’t mind in the least.” She brushes a strand of hair from her eyes and behind her ear. “One mark for every day I’ve been here. Maybe I’ll make a masterpiece next time.”

“How long  _ have _ you been here?” Eir asks as she throws Fenris a leg of meat. Hela doesn’t know where it comes from, nor does she care, but it tastes good and seems to keep Fenris just as strong as those early days, before they were forced to become weapons of destruction.

“Long enough to get used to the monotony,” Hela responds as she slurps at her soup, just to annoy Eir and for no other reason. She definitely doesn’t like how Eir looks adorable when she pouts or how she accidentally pushes up her breasts in that dress when she crosses her arms. 

“Yeah, but you being here certainly breaks that up.” Eir does the crossing-her-arms thing and Hela tries not to drool into her soup. If she didn’t already have a domain, Hela’s certain that Eir would be the goddess of sex or lust or something, because she definitely induces lust within her. Eir scoffs. “For Odin’s sake, you almost burned down the pumpkin patch because one of the jack o'lanterns were grinning at you funny. They’re not even carved yet!”

“Yes, well, you’re the only person allowed to look at me funny, darling.” Hela finishes her soup and rises to put it in the sink. She brushes a hand along Eir’s shoulder as she walks by, smiling to herself as she watches the goosebumps rise on the other woman’s skin. She loves that she could possibly have just as much effect on Eir as the other goddess has on her.

“I’ll be in the stable if you need anything,” Hela calls over her shoulder.

Eir’s annoyed groan almost rattles the house. Hela can’t help but laugh.

***

“I can't believe you!” Eir shouts as she points in the direction of what was once the barn. 

“I told you I didn't mean to,” Hela responds, arms crossed.

Fenris whines, tongue sticking out of her mouth. She barks and it shakes the trees. She’s now back to her regular size at the expense of Eir’s barn. Hela had forgotten how big her wolf was because, since they’ve gotten here, Fenris has been fluctuating between the size of a pet and a large bear.

“She  _ broke my barn _ !” Eir's voice cracks. “Eyvindr is  _ gone _ .”

Hela rolls her eyes and steps closer. “He's around here somewhere. He wouldn't leave you. I've heard a Valkyrie's steed will stay with her until death.”

Eir glares, tears in her brown eyes. “You should know,” she growls, “you've killed enough of both.”

Hela mouth open, on the verge of apologizing for the barn, but she freezes at Eir's words. Her heart stops in her chest and she steps back, as if shot by one of Thor’s lightning bolts. She swallows and turns away.

Thunder crackles in the distance and clouds approach at a rapid pace. “Storms coming,” Hela whispers. She takes a step toward the vegetable patch. “I’ll go find Eyvindr. You get out of the rain.”

She leaves before Eir can say anything else. Hela hears the woman shouting behind her but the thunder drowns her cries out. She can see the Valkyrie's pegasus, a dapple grey stallion with feathery wings, running back and forth in his pasture. He can obviously fly back to the barn if he wants to, but the storm looks like it’s aggravated him enough.

“Easy,” she says as she holds out her hand. “Steady.”

He whinnies and stomps over to her, pressing his nose into her hand. She chuckles, remembering the first time she encountered Eyvindr. He’d been wary of her, bucking every time Hela got close. She and Eir had worked together to get Eyvindr to trust her, and now she hopes that he'll come with her.

“You know there's no place to put him, right?” Eir asks as she comes up next to Hela. She still looks angry, but she must care more about the horse than the argument. The rain begins to fall around them, but Eir brushes a strand of hair from her eyes and slips the harness over Eyvindr’s nose. He neighs softly and butts his head against hers. She giggles as he snuffs at her hair and pets his muzzle. “You’re lucky I’ve got an extra stable right behind my home.”

Hela doesn’t know if Eir’s saying that to the horse or to her, but she laughs anyway and follows the healer back to her hut. Fenris, now the size of a dog, romps around their legs and yips as Eyvindr whinnies and enters the stall behind the hut. 

“Come on,” Eir says as she locks the stable. Fenris lopes into the house, but before Eir can do the same, the dark goddess takes her hand. “Hela?”

The rain falls harder, soaking both of them to the bone. Eir’s soft blue dress becomes skin tight, almost sheer.  It certainly doesn’t hide any of her features. Like her heaving bosom as she laughs or the slight curve of her stomach. Hela’s uniform just sticks to her skin, already tight enough as it is.

“Hela, what are you--?”

The death goddess doesn’t let Eir get another word in, just pulls her in by the hand and presses their mouths together. It’s soft and light and everything Hela hasn’t been for a long time. While she is hard and cold like stone, Eir is her opposite; soft and kind and warm. 

The brunette pulls away. “Hela, what are you--?”

“This, here, with you, is the closest I'll ever come to Valhalla,” Hela interrupts. “I'm sorry I broke your barn. I'm sorry I killed the Valkyries. I'm sorry I wasn't brave enough to stand up to my father. I'm sorry I--”

Eir slaps a hand over her mouth and Hela shouts in indignation. The brunette laughs, a loud full-belly laugh which has her throwing her head back to reveal the arch of her neck. She's even more beautiful with her hair mussed from Hela's fingers and raindrops dripping off of her chin and cutting a line down her cheekbones.

“You're beautiful,” Hela mumbles around Eir's hand. The woman in question pulls her hand away and looks at Hela with soft eyes. Hela pulls at her raggedly cut black hair, jagged lines. She knows she looks a mess. She must look like a drowned rat.

“You don't look so bad yourself,” Eir responds, her cheeks flush with color. She reaches up with a spin finger and traces Hela’s cheek down to tap at her collarbone.

“I, um, thank you?” Hela's voice cracks at the end and she wants to turn around and die.

Eir laughs and pulls Hela into her. This is the lightest the goddess of the death has ever felt. “You smell like sunshine,” Eir whispers into the crook of her neck.

Hela rolls her eyes because that's the most ridiculous thing she's ever heard. She hears Eir breathe, feels it against her neck like dragon fire, and squeezes just a little tighter.

The rain slows down and eventually stops. Eir steps out of Hela’s hold and dances away, arms outstretched towards the sun, peeking out through the clouds. It's like Hela's seeing the sunrise for the first time. She watches Eir dance in the puddles and laughs as rain rolls off her nose and into her smiling mouth. 

All of a sudden, the burden of being the ruler, of being the killer of her homeworld, slides away. Like the rain has cleansed her of all of the horrible things she's done.

She feels each raindrop as it slows, hitting her skin and she releases that knot of tension inside her. 

“Hela?” Eir asks. “What's happening to your suit?”

Hela looks down and smiles. Unlike her headpiece, which she can make appear and disappear, her suit has been a part of her since she entered Hel. Odin banished her in it and, unlike Loki, she cannot change what she wears. It fluctuates with her emotion and anger, tight and stifling, has been the primary emotion for so long she knows nothing else.

The tightness of her suit melts away into soft, silk fabric. It's green in color, but without the veins of black like her suit. It feels light, like she can breathe. She reaches out for Eir and, in her elation, presses their mouths together. Eir hums into the kiss, twisting her hands into Hela's new outfit. It looks like a vest top and long flowing pants with flared bottoms.

“Beautiful,” Eir murmurs against Hela's lips. She's soft and pliant under the brunette's touch and she never wants to be anywhere else. 

The dark-haired woman pulls away and chuckles again. “Let's go inside before you catch a cold and I have to heal the healer.”

“I don't get sick,” Eir argues, smacking Hela's arm. “I'm gonna have to take care of you when  _ you _ get sick. 

“Tell me that when the sun sets again,” Hela says as she presses a kiss to Eir's forehead before pulling her towards the healer's hut with a smirk on her lips. “I'm sure there's plenty we can do in the meantime.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this. Thanks to the O8 Discord chat for inspiration.
> 
> As of right now, this is a complete one-shot unless I get inspiration to write more.


End file.
